Piling-table for printing-presses.



F. E. RICH.

PILING TABLE FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25. 1914.

Patented July 13, I915.

hIH IIIIIII IIIIIII l I *5 IIIIIII 36 ggllllnfimum II? J; I

FRANK E. RICH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MIEHLE PRINTING PRESS &

MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FILING-TABLE FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, ltlld,

Application filed March 25, 1914; Serial No. 827,041.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK E. RICH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of.

1 most sheet at a substantially uniform height; and a further provision of means for quickly raising the table from its lowered position, after theremoval of the pile therefrom, to an elevated position in readimess to receive the first sheet of the second ile.

Heretofore means of a sort have been provided for the step by step lowering of the table and other means such as a hand wheel or crank working through the intermediary of a worm and wheel or screw spindle for somewhat more expeditiously and by a continuous action raising the table. However, such an arrangementis at best tedious in its operation and may be compared to the setting of the hands of a clock through the train by means of its winding arbor, whereas the present invention contemplates a much quicker method of elevating the table comparable to the manual shifting of the hour hand independently of the train.

In order that the invention may be read- .ily understood a preferred embodiment of the same is set forth in'the accompanying drawing and in the description based thereon. As, however, the invention is capable of embodiment in other and varied constructional forms the drawing and description I are to be taken in an illustrative and not in an unnecessarily limiting sense.

In the drawing Figure l is a side elevation of. a piling table embodying the invention; and Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same with certain portions broken away.

As illustrated the table 11 is shown as suspended from a frame comprising the horizontal members 12 and the standards 13 and located at the delivery end and beneath the delivery mechanism of a printing press, not shown. The horizontal members 12 of the frame are provided with journal brackets l t, 14 upon opposite sides thereof and in these brackets are journaled a pair of winding shafts or drums 15, 16. These winding shafts or drums are substantially duplicates and the description of one will sufiice for both. The drum 15, for example, while reduced throughout the greater portion of its length includes, as shown, a pair of enlarged portions 17 17 having a peripheral notched groove adapted to be engaged by the links of a flexible chain the inner end 18 of which is connected by means of the link 19 with a hooked end 20 of a T-bar 21 underlying the table 11 adjacent one end thereof while the other extremity 22 of the chain depends freely andis provided with a hand grasp 23. It will thus be seen that the table is supported adjacent its four corners by the ends of chains which pass over and in engagement with the winding drums disposed on the two sides of the frame.

Upon the end of the winding shaft or drum 15 is mounted a ratchet pinion 24 coacting with a pawl 25 carried by a worm wheel 26 which is in mesh with a worm 27 upon the shaft 28. The shaft 28 in turn has fixed thereon a ratchet pinion 29 coacting with a pawl 30 pivotally mounted at 31 upon one arm of a lever 32 fulcrumed upon said shaft 28 and bearing a counter weight 33. The lever 32 is connected by means of the rod 3 1 with an arm 35 pivoted at 36 and oscillated by the rod 37 in timed relation to the delivery mechanism. The winding shaft or drum 16 is similarly provided with a ratchet 38 coacting with a pawl 39 carried by the worm wheel 40 which is in mesh with a worm 41 carried by the opposite end of the shaft 28, that end of the shaft 28 being also provided with a hand wheel, 42.

As the delivery mechanism of the press deposits the sheets one by one upon the table 1.1 in its uppermost position, the lever 32 is actuated and through the train of gearing including the worms 27' and 4:1 and the worm wheels 26 and 40, the winding shafts 15 and 16 which are coupled to the worm wheels by means of their ratchet and pawl mechanism are permitted under the influence of the weighted table 11 to rotate so as to effect the gradual step by step low ering of the table to compensate for the accumulation of the sheets thereon and to maintain the uppermost sheet uniformly at the level best adapted for the reception of the next sheet from the delivery mechanism.

lVhen a suflicient number of sheets have accumulated upon the table 11 the table with its burden'may be allowed to settle upon a truck or the like disposed beneath the same and the T-bars 21 having been removed from beneath the table the latter may be wheeled away and another table placed upon the T-bars 21. Thereupon it becomes necessary to restore the table to its elevated position for the reception of the first sheet of a new pile. This may be done by means of the hand wheel 42 after the manner which has heretofore been customary, but this is a tedious operation and the present invention provides for a more expeditious raising of the table. The operator by grasping the handles 23 is enabled to reversely rotate the winding drums and thus quickly raise the table, the releasable ratchet and pawl connection between the windingdrums and the worm wheels permitting reverse rotation of the drums independent of the train. If desired the reverse rotation of the drums may be accomplished by the mounting in an obvious manner of hand wheels upon the rear end of the shafts 15, 16 outside of the worm wheel, but the provision ofa depending chain is found to be preferable.

It will thus be' seen that while the table is gradually lowered step by step automatically from its connection with the delivery mechanism of the press through a train .of gearing, the restoration of the table is manually efi'ected expeditiously and by a continuous movement independent of the train.

I claim: p

1. The combination with a sheet delivering mechanism, of a piling table adapted to receive the sheets, means'actuated by the sheet delivery mechanism for automatically lowering said table as the sheets accumulate thereon and including a train of. gearing also manually operable independently of the sheet delivery mechanism and train to quickly restore the table to its elevated position, substantially as described.

2.'The combination with a sheet delivering mechanism, of a piling table adapted to receive the sheets, means actuated by the sheet delivery mechanism for automatically lowering said table as the sheets accumulate thereon and including a train of gearing and a ratchet and pawl connection between the train and the table, said means also manually operable independently of the sheet delivery mechanism and train to quickly restore the table to its elevated position, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a sheet deliveringmeehanism, of a piling table adapted to receive the sheets, means for automatically lowering said table as the sheets accumulate thereon and comprising a winding drum, a flexible member engaging the drum and connected with the table, a lever operatively connected with the delivering mechanism, a pawl carried by the lever, a cross shaft, a ratchet on the shaft coacting with the pawl, a worm'on the shaft, a worm wheel meshing with the worm, a ratchet and pawl connection between the worm wheel and the winding drum, and means acting directly on the drum for reversely rotating the same independently of the worm wheel to quickly restore the table to its elevated position, substantially as described.

4. The'combination with a sheet delivering mechanism, of a piling table adapted to receive the sheets, means for automati- 'cally lowering said table as the sheets accumulate thereon and comprising a pair of windin drums arranged above the opposite sides of the table, chains engaging the drums and having one end connected to the table and the other adapted to be manually grasped, a lever operatively connected with the delivering mechanism, a pawl carried by the lever, a shaft, a ratchet on the shaft coactingwith the pawl, a pair of worms on the shaft, a pair of worm wheels meshing with the worms, and, a ratchet and pawl connection between the worm wheels 'and the winding drums, whereby the table may be quickly restored to its elevated position independently of the worm gearing by pulling on the free ends of the chains, substantially as described.

A piling device for printing presses comprisinga supporting frame, a vertically movable table, drums on the frame, flexible table-suspending elements, each suspending element having an intermediate portion wound upon one of the drums, one portion of the suspending element being connected to the table and the other portion being free and adapted for manipulation to wind the drum and elevate the table, and tablelowering means associated with the drums and adapted for operation by the sheet delivery mechanism of a printing press to reversely rotate the drums and lower the table, and means for disconnecting the table-lowering means from the drums to permit of the quick return of the table to its initial elevated position by manipulation of the free end of one of the chains.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK E. RICH. 

